US ambassador lauds UN resolution on MH17, warns RussiaSamantha Power says Moscow should not be involved in a zero sum game with the West and should not make hasty geo-strategic steps in Ukraine

Ambassador Samantha Power with President Obama

NEW YORK (AA) – The UN resolution adopted on Monday, with Russia on board, to probe into the crash of a Malaysian airliner in eastern Ukraine is a step taken toward combating impunity and provides “clear directions to safeguard and uncover all the facts,” the U.S. ambassador to UN told the Security Council on Monday.

“We have adopted a resolution today. But we are not naive: if Russia is not part of the solution, it will continue to be part of the problem,” Samantha Power told the representatives of the 15 member states of the council.

The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution Monday that deplored “downing” of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. The resolution calls for “a full, thorough and independent international investigation into the incident in accordance with international civil aviation guidelines.”

“Russia must recognize that no move on the geopolitical chessboard – no zero-sum game with the West – can offset the pain being felt by the passengers’ families worldwide,” Power said.

The flight MH17 — with 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board — was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur before crashing in Donetsk, the Ukrainian city under control of pro-Russian separatists.

It is believed that the plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile, launched from an area controlled by Russian-backed separatists inside of Ukraine.

“For the past six months, Russia has seized Ukrainian territory and ignored the repeated requests of the international community to de-escalate – all in an effort to preserve influence in Ukraine, a country that has long made clear its desire to maintain constructive ties with Moscow,” Power said.

Although hesitant until the final moments, Russia supported the UN resolution after some changes were made to the text. According to diplomats, a Russian proposal to change the term “the shooting” of Malaysian civil Boeing 777 to the “downing” of the plane was accepted.

Power said Moscow put fierce diplomatic resistance to the resolution that deplored the downing of the Boeing 777, and then, suddenly became a part of the UN consensus.